


A Declaration of Appreciation

by EveryOtherUsernameWasTaken6604



Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blushing, Boys Kissing, Embarrassment, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, One Shot, Rivalry, Rivals to Lovers, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:28:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24462760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EveryOtherUsernameWasTaken6604/pseuds/EveryOtherUsernameWasTaken6604
Summary: Stan invites his rival Craig over and confesses a secret to him. Confusion and embarrassment abound.(A drabble request from my Tumblr; Staig, "I think I'm in love with you, and I'm terrified.")
Relationships: Stan Marsh/Craig Tucker
Comments: 6
Kudos: 73





	A Declaration of Appreciation

"I think I’m in love with you, and I’m terrified,” whispered Stan.

Craig didn’t react. Not physically, anyway.

“I don’t get what you mean.”

Stan fell back onto an armchair, groaned, and buried his face into his hands. “Of course not,” he mumbled. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.” Craig sat on Stan’s couch and dangled his legs over the edge—Stan had asked him to come here during an episode of Red Racer, and seemed to be dropping a real bombshell on him, so he was going to make himself comfortable while he was here.

“I just…” Stan lifted his head and sighed. “You and me, we’ve got this weird rivalry thing going on. We’re leaders of our little friend groups, we’re always trying to one-up each other and prove our group is the best.”

He was right. They’d always been like that, ever since they were little: having little competitions and arguments all the time, signing up for the same sport and then overcompensating so they could beat the other. Craig had never really questioned it. It was just how things were.

It didn’t mean he hated Stan—just the opposite. He’d gained a sort of begrudged respect for him over the years. Stan was emotional, kind, sensitive, but would easily kick your ass if he was motivated enough; Craig, meanwhile, was stoic, reserved, tough, but he’d often make sure Stan wasn’t injured after their competitions. He’d never really thought about that either; it was just what he did. A sign of sportsmanship.

But now that he was thinking about it, had the worried glances if the other hadn’t insulted them that day, the passion that filled them every time they clashed, the whispers of “nice job, you almost had me there”…had they been something else?

But all Craig said was, “Yeah. What’s your point?”, and hoped he didn’t sound too hostile.

“That’s what we’ve always been. Frenemies or rivals or whatever the fuck you wanna call it.” Stan had started to run his fingers through his long, messy hair, making little rustling sounds. “But now I have all these weird feelings about you. Whenever you look at me, it feels like my heart’s gonna explode. When I see you joking around with Jimmy or Clyde, my stomach starts to hurt. When we’re in a locker room or something together, I can’t stop staring at you—"

“Okay, let’s slow down,” Craig interjected, holding up his hands. “I don’t know if that’s ‘in love’ material. You might just have a crush. Or, I dunno, think I’m hot or something.”

“You are super hot,” replied Stan. “But I know that’s not the only reason I get these weird feelings. Remember last week when Jimmy was saying how good you were at lifting heavy stuff? And then Kyle said, 'Yeah, he’s good, but I bet Stan could do it better’?”

“Uh-huh. I beat you.” Craig couldn’t keep a cocky smirk off his face. “I don’t see how that’s evidence, though. We were both all sweaty, muscles flexing and all that, wearing thin clothes…”

“Don’t,” Stan mumbled; his cheeks seemed to be glowing red at this point, like embers. Harbingers of some blazing fire. He looked sort of cute like that. “Anyway, we started doin’ it, and…when we got to some of the heavier weights, I glanced over at you, and I saw your face. You looked like you were about to keel over. But I felt fine, y'know? I-I coulda kept going.” He stopped talking briefly, and his eyes met Craig’s. “So, I pretended I was too tired to go on. I guess I didn’t want you to overexert yourself. The thought of seeing you hurting…hurt me.”

Silence. Craig moved his legs back over the end of the couch and sat normally.

“So, you threw the competition on purpose because you didn’t want to see me in pain,” he eventually said.

“Yeah. That’s basically it,” whispered Stan through dry lips. “Normally I’d just try and win, and then make sure you were okay once we were done. But this time, for once, you not getting hurt was more important than me winning.”

“Wow. That’s pretty gay.”

“Heh. Yeah.”

“But then, so am I.”

Stan squinted his soft brown eyes. “What are you saying?”

The other teen’s gaze darted down and to the left. “I dunno either, man.” He laughed, but only for a moment: brief and perhaps bitter. “So you’re in love with me and you’re scared because that’s super different from what our relationship is. Right?”

“Mhm.”

“Then, I guess we just gotta change what our relationship is.”

Before Stan could respond with something dumb like “Huh?” or “What do you mean?”, Craig had leaped off the couch, wrapped his arms around Stan, and pulled him into a tight embrace. A soft kiss to his cheek soon followed.

Craig, in as gentle a voice as he could, said “Can’t hurt to try something new, right?”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” Stan smiled and kissed Craig’s cheek in response. “I…I know it might be hard for us at first, but maybe we can try thinking of it like another competition. Whoever can love the other guy the most is the winner.”

Craig released Stan, stepped back, and extended his hand. “Then may the best man win.”

Stan grasped his hand, and they shook on it.


End file.
